I have had a Private Notice Question from Deputy Harte which is in order. Would the Deputy put his question now?
Private Notice Question. - Lifford (Donegal) Road Obstruction.
asked the Minister for Justice if his attention has been drawn to the fact that a car bomb has been left on Lifford bridge, which is a main thorough-far between County Donegal and Northern Ireland and through Northern Ireland to the Republic of Ireland; that the vehicle was left on a bridge at about 2 a.m. on Tuesday, 15 May; that hundreds of people are being grossly inconvenienced; that the British authorities will not attempt to defuse the bomb and remove the vehicle until they are given full protection by the Irish authorities in Lifford; that the lack of proper security arrangements on the Donegal side of the bridge has contributed to this outrage; that the provision of two Garda patrol cars in Lifford to cover a wide area in east Donegal, where one car is often unavailable for duties because of cutbacks resulting in the unacceptable situation where one car has to cover the entire area; that Lifford hospital which is near the bridge, has had to be evacuated because of the danger; and in view of this, if he will indicate the action he proposes to take to co-operate with the British authorities to have the car bomb removed and provide adequate security arrangements to prevent a recurrence of this irresponsible and outrageous behaviour of the IRA.
I am giving this reply on behalf of the Minister for Justice who is away on official business. The facts of the matter raised in the Private Notice Question, as related to me by the Garda authorities, are as follows:
In the early hours of Tuesday last, 15 May, at 12.50 a.m. approximately, a taxi company in Strabane received a call to collect a fare in Lifford, County Donegal. On arriving at the Lifford location the car was, in effect, hijacked by a number of men, at least three, all of whom were masked and at least one of whom was armed.
These men proceeded to place a number of objects in the taxi which shortly afterwards was driven to the Border and abandoned just off the Lifford bridge on the Northern side. The Garda immediately diverted traffic and the area was sealed off on both sides. Extensive searches have been carried out on the Southern side by gardaí backed up by an Army explosives team.
Meetings have taken place between an explosives officer on our side, the Garda, the RUC and an explosives officer from the British Army to discuss how best the problem can be approached. In the interests of safety, a decision was taken to evacuate the Lifford hospital patients. This has been done.
Following the detailed discussions and liaison on a North-South basis that have been ongoing since Tuesday, the British side have undertaken to deal with the situation as quickly as possible. In accordance with the usual procedure for dealing with such devices on the Border, every possible facility has been provided from our side to enable the vehicle concerned to be removed.
The suggestion in this question to the effect that the British authorities are awaiting some security steps to be carried out on our side before tackling the abandoned vehicle is totally unwarranted. Nothing is being left undone to ensure that no danger lies on our side of the Border for those who will eventually, when it is safe to do so, move in to deal with whatever device may have been left in the taxi abandoned on the northern side of the bridge.
To those who are inconvenienced because the abandoned vehicle is still there today, Thursday, let me point out the need for extreme caution in dealing with these devices. Apart from the obvious possible danger which is presented by whatever devices may be in the taxi, there remains the possibility that this is a deliberate ploy to lure a bomb disposal team towards the vehicle. In layman's terms it may be a "come-on"— to enable further devices to be triggered thereby causing possible loss of life or serious injury. In these circumstances I trust that the reason for the delay will be understood on all sides of the House.
To conclude, I would like to emphasise the Government's commitment to ensuring that the Garda have the necessary resources to enable them to prevent these occurrences where possible, and where they do occur, to enable as much co-operation as possible to be afforded to their counterparts north of the Border to enable these devices to be tackled.
I know that the House will join with me in condemning such activities and in giving our full support to the Garda Síochána and the Defence Forces in tackling them.
Would the Minister appreciate that the last time I raised a question on a similar occurrence I pointed out to the House that irresponsible people who call themselves Republican IRA or Provisional IRA — let us be honest, everyone knows who they are, the dogs in the street are barking their names, they do not have to be hooded, but that is beside the point — could do this every day of the week unless there are proper security arrangements on the Lifford side of the Border? That is glaring to any ordinary person. We have a number of gardaí in Lifford——
I am afraid we will have to proceed by way of supplementary question.
I am asking the Minister to appreciate that a number of gardaí in Lifford are available for extra duty but are not allowed to work overtime because of cutbacks. A patrol car is often unavailable in an area right beside a military post. Would the Minister agree that three miles up the road at Clady Bridge there is a checkpoint provided by the Garda though the volume of traffic on Lifford Bridge is much greater than on Clady Bridge? Why is there not a checkpoint at Lifford Bridge to prevent the mischevious and outrageous conduct that is the subject of my question?
Notwithstanding any financial difficulties that may have occurred in various Departments, Garda strength has been maintained in the last number of years.
That is not true.
There has not been a cutback in the provision. The deployment of resources is a matter for the Commissioner, as Members on all sides of the House will recognise. Mobile patrols and temporary checkpoints are provided, and some three sergeants, 23 gardaí, one detective sergeant and five detective gardaí, one patrol car and one Detective Branch car are stationed at Lifford. The policy is a matter for the Garda Síochána. The Garda Síochána do not favour——
The Minister is not providing for overtime for them.
Let us hear the Minister's reply.
As the Deputy will realise, the Minister has provided additional funds for overtime. That provision is continued in this year's Estimates so the extra resources in that sense have been provided for the Garda. In terms of policy the Garda, for their own operational reasons, do not favour permanent checkpoints. They have their own reasons for deciding on operational procedures. The deployment of Garda resources is a matter for the Garda Commissioner. The Government are committed to ensuring that the Garda have the resources they need.
A brief question. I will then call Deputy McGinley.
At the bottom line in all this, can the Minister give the House an assurance that he will provide adequate security to ensure there is no recurrence of that outrageous behaviour? That is the undertaking I want the Minister to give to the House, to the people of Lifford and of County Donegal generally, including the patients in Lifford hospital. It is no good rattling off statistics which are meaningless to the people who cannot use the bridge.
I would like to point out that this closure is causing disruption right down to the west coast of Donegal and to commercial and other traffic. Ultimately jobs may depend on the reopening of this bridge. It has been closed now for three days. Can the Minister give an accurate prediction as to when we can expect this thoroughfare that is so important to the economic life of Donegal to be reopened? Has the matter been raised with the Secretariat in Northern Ireland? One of the advantages of having the Secretariat ought to be to be able to raise such matters. What is going on?
I trust Deputies will realise that one of the objectives of those who placed the car in question in the position it is in would have been to cause inconvenience and to elicit here in Leinster House those kinds of protests. It would be far better if Deputies trusted the Garda Síochána, supported them——
That is scraping the bottom of the barrel. Is the Minister suggesting that we are reacting to the IRA?
(Interruptions.)
Deputy Harte, restrain yourself, please.
May I support the two Deputies who have spoken on this matter in terms of the inconvenience and disruption which is, of course, deliberate, on the part of its perpetrators? Can I say to the Minister that he should take it for granted that those of us who are speaking on this matter have very good first hand information of the dangers inherent in a situation like this and would not be pressing the issue if we thought that our doing so would lead to the remotest possibility of loss of life to anyone?
Is the Minister aware that this disruption initially occurred on the morning of the Cardinal's funeral when the political controllers of the people responsible had the hypocrisy to attend his funeral in Armagh, and we can judge their seriousness in terms of what they stand over? Will the Minister agree that once again all of this outlines and highlights the hypocrisy of those in the Border areas, many of whom are politically associated with these people who are protesting against the disruption of Border roads?
Deputy Currie will appreciate that at Question Time questions only are appropriate, that we discourage statements.
With all due respect, Sir, I am framing questions.
I heard the Deputy asking questions.
Deputy Harte, I reminded Deputy Currie that he does not seem to me now to be asking questions.
I think when you check the record you will find everything I have said has been phrased in terms of questions. While I have not been in this House for very long I know how to frame questions. I will stand by the record if the Chair will stand by the record.
I will listen to the Deputy while he asks a question.
I have been asking questions. I should like to ask the Minister whether this highlights the hypocrisy of those who protest against the closing of Border roads and attempt to fill in those Border roads while they are responsible for inconvenience and disruption of this nature. Will the Minister make the strongest possible recommendation and representations, through the body that was set up to deal with these matters under the Anglo-Irish Conference — I am referring to the Secretariat at Mary-field — so that this disruption is ended in safety at the earliest possible time?
I should like to ask the Minister to condense his reply as much as possible and allow us to proceed to the other business that has been ordered. The question has received a fair airing.
In the course of my reply I pointed out that meetings have taken place between both sides to try to ensure that the problem is solved in the best way possible. I should like to assure the House that we are doing everything possible to ensure that there will be no danger on our side of the Border to those who will, when it is safe to do so, remove the danger.
Will the Minister give the assurance I am asking for?
We will have to proceed with the next business ordered. Deputy Harte will appreciate that we cannot spend all day on his question.
My question was a simple one. Can the Minister give the House an assurance that he will provide adequate security on the Lifford side to ensure that there will not be a recurrence of this outrageous behaviour?
In the course of my reply I made it clear that the security on our side of the Border is a matter for the Garda Síochána. They have a policy, which they execute very effectively, in relation to such matters. That policy is a matter for the Garda Commissioner.
I suggest that the Minister start talking to the gardaí in the street about this because somebody has given him wrong information.